


no grey

by badethics



Series: in the pines (where the sun never shines) [2]
Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Gen, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 06:29:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16738849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badethics/pseuds/badethics
Summary: Yoongi isn't that kid anymore, to say the least.Neither is Hoseok.





	no grey

**Author's Note:**

> basically a short snippet of a mafia au i've been allowing to eat my brain the past month or so

Hoseok's known Yoongi since he was still shining the Mayor's shoes – or, to be perfectly accurate, he's known Yoongi since he was still setting up Mayor Choi's private e-mail server and cleaning his sons' computers of viruses. He's seen Yoongi smile, tight and uncomfortable, when someone has told him to put a bullet between the eyes of some petty criminal, and he's seen Yoongi use thermite to torch hard drives full of incriminating evidence without even blinking. Hoseok knew Yoongi when he was just an up-and-comer with something to prove, some punk from Daegu who could barely even shoot a gun in a straight line. (Not that Hoseok was much better at the time.)

Yoongi isn't that kid anymore, to say the least.

Neither is Hoseok.

"It wasn't –" the bartender says, shaking. He's got a cheek pressed against the grimy floor, hands flat on the ground, looking up at Hoseok with one frantic eye. Hoseok has a shoe on his face, so maybe that's understandable.

The bartender was a lot tougher earlier, when Yoongi had come in with some questions. It's even a nice place, too. Lots of sports memorabilia, clear, ambient lighting. The ribs are pretty good. Most people don't know what Yoongi looks like even if they know who he is. Yoongi likes the strength of his reputation, but he doesn't like being flashy about it, which means that he can still pass through the criminal underworld unrecognized if he wants to. The ill-fitting suits Yoongi likes to wear, along with the messy nest of his hair and his obvious youth, give the impression that Yoongi is some low-level lackey, which isn't true at all. Hoseok has run out of fingers to count the number of times someone has accidentally called him "kid."

This bartender isn't so tough right now, with a foot in his face and a gun aimed at his head.

"You're not answering my questions fast enough," Yoongi says. He's standing next to the bar, and his eyes keep twitching around the room like he's bored, like he'd rather be doing something else in his head right now. Yoongi is thirteen times worse than his normal baseline when he's bored. When Yoongi's bored, he likes to put together his big schemes, the ones that both impress and terrify Hoseok all at once. Yoongi isn't content to just carve out a small and comfortable place for himself and his own operation. Yoongi wants to play with the big boys.

Hoseok says, "I believe Yoongi-ssi asked you a question." He doesn't even have to make his tone particularly menacing. The gun does most of his talking for him.

The bartender twitches. "He – he didn't say anything about farm animals, just that he wanted to go somewhere warmer." He's being so accommodating now, which makes Hoseok happy. It's too bad the Chois will just torture the information out of him later.

Jin snorts from the corner where he's surveying the pool table. "Hyosang did like to say he wanted to retire to Hawaii." He's got his hands shoved into his pockets, one eyebrow raised. Most people think Jin is the nice one, which is true if you've only seen him standing next to Yoongi, all placating gesturws and words, trying to smooth things over when Yoongi is in a particularly difficult business meeting and Yoongi is being annoyed and impatient. Being Yoongi's adviser, Jin puts only his good face on while in public. When he's behind the scenes, he can be every bit as ruthless as Yoongi himself. Maybe even more so.

Yoongi nods, a quick half-aborted motion. "We'll have to get him before he gets to the airport." He turns to leave without giving Hoseok any further instructions.

"Um, boss?" Hoseok says, gesturing to the squirming bartender on the floor.

Yoongi gives Hoseok a level look, his eyes as blank as they always are.

He shrugs.

Hoseok steps back and pulls the trigger.

The man screams in pain as the bullet tears through his knee.

*

Namjoon is waiting for them at Yoongi's home after they finish up with Hyosang. He's angry about something, but Hoseok has always been careful not to get in between Yoongi and Namjoon when they get into one of their little tiffs. The two of them snarl at each other with sharp, clipped words, articulate even in anger. Hoseok carefully ignores what they're actually saying. Neither Yoongi nor Namjoon are above dragging other people into their problems. Feigning ignorance is the best way around that.

Jin raises an eyebrow at Hoseok. "How long do you think it'll take?" he asks with a nod in the direction of Namjoon's retreating back.

"Never," Hoseok says. Yoongi and Namjoon have been together for years, and things have always been rocky. Namjoon keeps his nose as clean as possible, and Yoongi – well, Yoongi doesn't understand the concept. At all.

Hoseok and Yoongi met Namjoon for the first time when they were on a routine bank trip, tasked with inspecting Mayor Choi's accounts for any suspicious irregularities. (The old man thought that maybe someone was skimming some off the top, and he wanted the two of them to figure out if that was the case.) For some reason that Hoseok still doesn't understand, Namjoon had taken a shine to Yoongi even then, leaning in close as Yoongi's eyes flicked over the computer screen, putting a hand on Yoongi's shoulder when he didn't have to. At the end of the trip, Namjoon scribbled his number on a torn off corner of a newspaper and offered it to Yoongi, bold and shy at the same time. What was even more surprising was the fact that Yoongi had taken it, a smile lingering on the corner of his lips. Yoongi doesn't really like people, but he liked Namjoon, and though Hoseok understood, because it's _Namjoon_ , he never really got why either.

That had been years ago, way before Yoongi decided to strike out on his own, before Yoongi started putting together his own organization, one that's beginning to rival even the scale of the Choi family operations. If Namjoon managed to stick with Yoongi through all of that, when Yoongi was at his most obsessive and workaholic and completely bugfuck nuts, he should be able to stick with Yoongi through anything.

"Hyung, you don't –" Namjoon says from further down the hall, a frown crossing his face.

"I don't remember asking for your opinion, Joon-ah," Yoongi says, cutting him off. When Yoongi's like this, you can argue all you want, but you're not going to win. Not on any level. Hoseok once tried to argue Yoongi out of buying his own bar (which, in retrospect, was a great idea). Yoongi had mostly just glared at Hoseok until Hoseok went away. Yoongi has a stubborn streak a mile wide. Yoongi can make you feel small and insignificant with just one look.

Hoseok's not one to speculate (okay no, that's a total lie), but he's pretty sure Namjoon thinks that one day Yoongi will just...stop. That one day, after Yoongi's had enough, they'll pick up and move out to Malta or Stockholm or somewhere like that and live out the rest of their lives with Yoongi's ill-gotten gains. Or something. Hoseok doesn't know the details.

Namjoon has never seen Yoongi while he's at work, really at work, with his eyes narrowed and focused and his mouth set into a grim, straight line. He hasn't heard Yoongi talk about their next moves, each one calculated to get them further, each one calculated to get them more, and more, and more.

Hoseok knows it's never going to be enough, not for Yoongi. Not ever.

*

Afterwards, when Yoongi and Namjoon's chilliness towards each other finally begins to thaw, Hoseok ends up in Yoongi's office. Yoongi is on the phone with their guy overseas, Ikje, talking about deliveries and schedules. As always, Yoongi's office is clean, neat to the point of seeming sterile. It doesn't look like something out of _The Godfather_ , all warm browns, covered in old books, carrying all its history with it. The office looks like Yoongi, chrome and cold and metallic, white walls and bare, stainless steel furniture.

"You wanted to see me, hyung?" Hoseok asks after Yoongi hangs up.

Yoongi leans forward and says, "I'm not surprised that they went after Hyosang. He was always an idiot. Though I’m concerned that it took us that long to figure out he was the leak, and it's even more concerning that it took us that long to figure out where he was."

Yoongi is bleeding anger, a cold rage in his voice. He's usually more controlled than that. The argument with Namjoon must have been really bad. "I'll make sure everyone stays on top of suspicious coincidences in the future," Hoseok says. "I have a few ideas that I've been kicking around. I'll see what I can do."

Yoongi half-nods, a quick tilt of his head. 

"Good." It sounds like a dismissal.

Hoseok figures that the business-talk of this conversation is now over. "So what was up with the fight with Namjoon?"

The look Yoongi gives him could freeze lava, but Hoseok knows that he can get away with a lot when it comes to Yoongi. He started earning it that from the moment Yoongi had said, "Fuck the Chois, fuck City Hall, those close-minded little fucks. I want to go bigger," and Hoseok had said, "Sure. Let's do it."

Yoongi says, "Namjoon-ah is my problem, not yours." His voice is as flat as ever. Hoseok's not going to win this argument either.

Hoseok remembers what Jin said out in the hallway, about how long it will take. Seeing Yoongi now, Hoseok thinks it might not be long at all. "You know it's only going to get worse the deeper you go, right? Namjoon isn't – he didn't choose this the way we did."

Yoongi doesn't say anything, but he does sit back in his chair. He loosens his tie. For a moment, he looks like that kid Hoseok first met a lifetime ago, his newest roommate in a too-big hoodie and baggy pants, the one with the tight smile and the ability to make computers sing underneath his fingers. Then the image rights itself, and he's Yoongi again, Hoseok's boss in the ugly suits and more money than he knows what to do with.

The fire in his eyes is still the same as it always was.

"Hyung –" Hoseok starts.

Yoongi says, "Get out of my office, Hoseok."

Hoseok gets.


End file.
